The Rolling Stones song, “You cant always get what you want,” is a song about drugs, and death. It was played at the close of the GOP convention 2016 in Cleveland, chosen by Donald Trump & Company as they closed the convention.
As per friends who knew the scene back in the day: “For years, ‘the connection’ was understood by many to mean one’s drug dealer… Footloose used to mean, without direction, wandering about, free but at such cost… The ‘drugstore’ is a literal pun… ‘Cherry red’ used to be a hip term for multi-colored drugs of a certain kind… Choose your fav color. ‘Going down to the demonstration’was the end of an era esp in Britain, wherein of sex, drugs and rock and roll … at least one of the three often proved literally deadly for the young who engaged. The woman is Lady Death, who represents drinking and drugging, and she holds the outcome of what the era has brought too much of: Death. There is a dead man in the glass of wine she is drinking, a death waiting for any who partake of what seemed so fun but proved so deadly for many.”
The irony is just nearly too much.
{Partial lyrics of the song]
I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man
No, you can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, “We’re gonna vent our frustration
If we don’t we’re gonna blow a 50-amp fuse”
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need
I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was “dead”
I said to him
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need
I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need.
On another note, the song chosen by Trump & Co. on the second night of the GOP convention came from a man named Farrokh Bulsara a/k/a Freddie Mercury, ‘We Are the Champions,’.
This song We are the Champions, was written and performed by a man born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, now Tanzania. Forrokh Bulsara and his parents are Zoroasterians, which predates Muslims/Islam in Persia by about 10 centuries.
A odd pick of song and songwriter/musician for the GOP and Trump for several reasons.
The writer and QUEEN performer Farrokh Bulsara/ a/k/a Freedie Mercury, was a Parsi, originally a Persian ethnic group –who follow still, Zoroastrianism. The surname Bulsara is after “a city in the East Indian state of Gujarat where many Zoroastrians migrated. In the 17th century, Bulsar was one of the five major centers of the Zoroastrian religion wherein the devout, along with Muslims and their religion, and other religious groups lived intermingled.
Freddie Mercury of “We are the Champions” was gay, and ‘out’ for the most part.
Not a shy man, he gave highly dramatic performances with high energy and much body ‘language’.
He is counted amongst the vernable ‘Who’s Who’ of homosexual personalities who are revered by many.
“We are the Champions” has his own life as subtext. And he wanted it to be an anthem for football games as he admired the sport, and also the men playing the sport.
Forrokh Bulsara, also known as Freddie Mercury, contracted HIV AIDs and publicly said so. An advocate for full rights for gays and those with other gender ways, he died at the very young age of 45.
CODA
Both the songs are very familiar songs to many across the world for many different reasons. But the songs’ underlying stories and ideals ought not be, [and the very complex lives of their lyricists and musicians who made the songs come alive, ought not be,] out of respect, shorn from the songs –especially when efforts are made to use these two so very sensorily-arousing songs as some kind of rallying ‘souvenir’, by some who appear to want to forget, or strip the songs of their true roots…